Paul F. Steiner

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The below is taken from various eMails and copied and pasted here.
The dates are taken from eMails as the gallery grunt received them.
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3/2/14 Steve Steiner:

Just a reminder of today, Opa Paul F. Steiner, DOB 03/02/1907. Have any funny stories to recite of Opa to us?

"Our family vacationed in Canada one year during August & he & Ohma volunteered to stay at our home in NY and care for our property, animals, cat, dog & horses etc. Guess one day he decided to trim the dead branches on a mighty tall Pine Tree, by climbing a ladder & then while standing on several branches one of them snapped sending him down over 25ft and landing on a log splitter & other items. This guy must of had nine lives as Ohma found him partially conscious and not sure how long he lay there. When we returned a week later and saw the black & blue injuries was simply amazing the old tough guy survived!"
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3/2/14 Doug:

The funniest for me: About 1982, Opa came to visit my family while I was stationed at Naval Air Engineering Center Lakehurst, New Jersey. Since Lakehurst is about a 15-20 minute drive to Seaside Heights, we decided to go to the beach…for everyone knows how much Opa loved to swim both in pools and particularly the ocean.

Anyway, Tiffany was about 6 years old at this time and very infatuated with Opa. So we all piled into the car and drove to Seaside Heights, then walked under the boardwalk and out to the beach. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and the beach was pretty crowded being a summer day. Once we set up our stuff close to the water’s edge, Opa (dressed in a white shirt, black pants with belt, and dress shoes) began to disrobe. People around us began noticing him undressing, and when done Opa was wearing only some loose-fitting gray swim trunks and his white T-Shirt. But all was good. Later, taking off his T-shirt, he then went down to the water and I was amazed that this 75 year old man was in such good shape and such a strong swimmer! A regular porpoise!

After spending time in the ocean, Opa came back and sat with us on our beach towels. Somewhere along the way, though, the talk must have turned to fitness and - I think purely for the benefit of young Tiffany, to make her happy because maybe they had been taking about it - Opa decided to demonstrate that he could in fact do a handstand on the beach.

Well, his first and second attempts weren’t successful, but those efforts gained him the vast attention of many people on the beach. After all, how many grandpa’s out there try to do handstands on a public beach wearing nothing but gray shorts? On either his third or fourth attempt - and much to his credit - he succeeded! He was doing something I’ve never done…a complete vertical handstand in the sand! It was simply amazing…but our surprise and happiness for him turned into something else when his loose gray shorts - being pulled down by gravity - began showing parts of Opa that were never meant to be seen.

Although it seemed like an eternity, Opa held that handstand for at least 5-10 seconds before he gracefully returned to his starting position. Me thinks he realized what was happening and cut short his handstand, because he showed absolutely no sign of fatigue from doing it! Best of all, he had that grin on his face which I remember oh so well and Tiffany loved it. Soon afterwards, we got ready to leave and Opa again got fully dressed on the beach before we left. He stayed with us the rest of that day and returned home by bus via Lakewood to Philadelphia the following Monday.

I share this story with you not to make fun of Opa, but to demonstrate the spirit in which he lived out his later years. To this day I am extremely appreciative of the warmth he displayed towards our family, and particularly for that twinkle I saw in his blue eyes from time-to-time when he was about to share some kind of secret or in-depth truth with me. As for Tiffany, to this day she remembers him with love and fondness to include this particular day on the beach.
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3/4/15 Steve Steiner:

OK Gang, To comply with sister Sieglind's request to add one more minor event that took place in the late 1960's regarding Sr. Opa Steiner & river roughing it in the East New York Harbor between New Jersey. This story begins around a Memorial Day weekend while living in Fort Lee, NJ we had the urge to show Janet the Statue of Liberty as she had never visited. Upon boarding the local cruise ship at Battery Park, in Manhattan we had a great ride over to the Statue of Liberty. Other Islands that are accesible by Ferry Service from lower Manhattan are Ellis Island & Governors Island, so if you're ever vacationing in NYC be sure to visit at least one of them.

But to continue...the ride was great as the packed ship with passengers made its way over and docked at Liberty Island everyone had the opportunity to ride a few elevators & then begin the strenuous task of climbing many flights of stairs to the top of the Head of Liberty which had many windows to view the Harbor for miles with the aid of coin operated Binoculars. Although a bit "winded" it was great seeing NYC etc as never before. Looking straight down at our ship that was tied to the dock, I noticed a loan occupant in a rather large "Row Boat" enjoying his lonesome ride on the very deep swirling river waters. I thought this guy must be nuts!

After a great tour of the Statue we clammored down the many staircases and reached the road leading to our ship while this Row Boat was still hanging around, maybe the guy was eating some lunch and was observing the passengers. Well, "Holy Crap", as we got a little closer I nearly freaked as I said to my wife that's my "old man Pop" in the Row Boat! I guess he freaked as well as he flipped his hat & stood & waved to us boarding the Hudson River Day Line Cruise Ship.

Amazing, as I don't know anyone that would venture riding the river channels around New York Harbor. Phone calls later had much laughter as we called brothers & sisters to ask if they knew where their Popa went today?

3/5/14 Doug:
This is the classic story I heard many times as a kid. It never grew old! And when I visited the Statue of Liberty in 1999 I couldn’t help but look down and smile.